SOURCES SOUGHT AND DRAFT RFP - CIO-SP3This sources sought announcement is for information and planning purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. A contract will not be awarded solely as a result of this sources sought announcement or related draft Request for Proposal (RFP).Proposals are not solicited under the draft RFP.However, NITAAC will consider the suggestions and questions received in developing a final RFP.NITAAC would also like to take this opportunity to thank contractors and government customers in advance for any suggestions they may want to provide.

1. BackgroundThe federal government is committed to changing its business processes to achieve a world class standard of excellence. This is being accomplished by adopting best business practices and the latest technology to create a more efficient, citizen-centered federal government.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been designated as an executive agent for purposes of providing Information Technology (IT) to the government. Under this authority, NIH established three Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) to support the full range of IT needs across the federal government, with a particular emphasis on agencies like NIH and its parent, HHS, that are involved in health care and clinical and biological research.

The NIH Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC) took its first major step in developing a successor GWAC to its current Chief Information Officer - Solutions and Partners 2 Innovations (CIO-SP2i) and the Image World 2 New Dimensions (IW2nd) GWACs, which are both expiring in December 2010 by posting a Request for Information (RFI) in FedBizOps on April 30, 2008. The successor contract will continue to support government IT efforts with a focus on health and biomedical-related IT services in support of federal agencies' health missions.

The RFI solicited feedback from both industry and the government as to the technology envisioned under the successor contract and best practices to be employed as well as potential new sources for these types of requirements.Based partly on the feedback received, the government developed the attached draft Request for Proposal (RFP) and is looking to industry for any feedback prior to issuing the formal RFP.The resulting GWAC will be open to all qualified contractors.

The government intends to solicit a second GWAC that will be set-aside for small business with essentially the same scope.A separate Sources Sought announcement will be issued for CIO-SP3 Small Business, but NITAAC does not intend to issue a draft RFP for that GWAC.Instead, NITAAC will consider the feedback under this announcement in developing both the final CIO-SP3 GWAC and the CIO-SP3 Small Business GWAC RFPs.

2. Purpose

NITAAC is soliciting interest in this GWAC, which contractors can indicate through the links provided at the end of this announcement.NITAAC is also soliciting feedback from industry and potential government customers regarding the Draft RFP. Contractors and government customers wishing to comment or ask any questions will be required to register in https://acqutrak.noblis.org/CIO-SP3DraftRFPFeedback and follow the instructions contained therein for submitting questions and/or comments.Questions or comments submitted by means other than through the aforementioned website will not be considered.The government is soliciting comments by the response date indicated in the announcement.

As noted earlier, the government is not soliciting proposals at this time.However, the government will consider comments and/or questions for the purpose of developing the final RFPs for both the CIO-SP3 and CIO-SP3 Small Business GWACs.The government is under no obligation to post any further information or answer any of the questions under this announcement.Requests for meetings regarding the draft RFP and Sources Sought announcement will not be entertained at this point.

3. Additional Information

This Sources Sought announcement is for planning purposes only and there is no intention to acquire any products or services, or award any contract, based on this notification.Information contained in this notification is the result of experience with the current GWACs and is therefore potentially subject to modification. It is in no way binding on the government. An appropriate RFP process may follow in the September 2009 time-frame, contingent upon final approval for the project.

The government does not intend to pay for the information solicited. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the government will arise because of submission of responses to this Sources Sought announcement and the government's use of such information.

The government prefers that no proprietary or confidential business data be submitted in response to this Sources Sought announcement. However, the government will hold in confidence any responses that indicate that the information therein is proprietary, or represents confidential business information, Proprietary information submitted, as part of responses to this Sources Sought announcement, should be clearly identified as COMMERCIAL IN-CONFIDENCE and it will be treated in-confidence.